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Brief Facts/Statistics

This information is primarily based on data published in ABS Catalogue 3303.0 Causes of Death Australia, 2008, released on 31st March 2010, and from additional tables of data available at the ABS website ( http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3303.02008?OpenDocument ).

  • Suicide is a prominent public health concern. Over the past five years, the average number of people dying each year by suicide is around 2,050.
  • In 2008, 1,710 males (16.0 per 100,000) and 481 females (4.5 per 100,000) died by suicide, a total of 2,191 deaths (10.2 per 100,000).
  • The highest age-specific suicide rate for males in 2008 was observed in the 40-44 age group (26.4 per 100,000), with the lowest in the 15-19 age group (9.4 per 100,000). 
  • The highest age-specific suicide rate for females in 2008 was observed in the 50-54 age group (8.6 per 100,000), with the lowest age-specific suicide rate being seen in the 80-84 age group (2.0 per 100,000).
  • Suicide rates in Australia peaked in 1963 (17.5 per 100,000), declining to 11.3 per 100,000 in 1984, and climbing back to 14.6 in 1997. Rates have been lower than this since that year. The age-standardised suicide rate for persons in 2008 is 10.2 per 100,000. 
  • In 2008, 78% of people who dies by suicide were males and 22% were females.
  • In 2008, suicide comprised 4.2% of all deaths that were by identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In contrast, suicide comprised 1.5% of deaths of non-Indigenous people who died that year.
  • Research has indicated that migrants in Australia have similar suicide rates to those in their country of origin. 
  • Mental illness is a major risk factor for suicide, with psychological autopsy studies showing that up to 90% of people who suicide may have been experiencing a mental disorder at the time of their death.
  • People in any form of custody have a suicide rate three times higher than the general population.
  • In 2008, the most common mechanism for deaths by suicide was hanging which accounted for 53% of suicide deaths.
  • For access to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics 'Causes of Death' publication (Catalogue no. 3303.0) Click here

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